Spud the Spudnificent
by Serina Kat
Summary: [DISCONTINUED] A week and a half later, Spud's back in school, and a little suspicious, and Jake is a little paranoid. Chapter five is up. Slight AU. This is my first fic ever, please be a little nice.
1. Talkin' with the teacher's

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I really don't, so please, don't sue, okay?

!Chapter 1!

"Hunt's girl, are you sure?" The echoing voice of the Huntsmaster rung throughout the library of his home.

"Yes, Hunt's master," Rose answered, her blue eyes set in determination, "The boy, he cast the djinn back into the chalice, I doubt he even knows what it means."

Rose had just returned from the school talent show, it was disappointing and she was going to leave, until she had seen the chalice. It had been defiled, with the '1st prize' scribbled on the front in permanent marker. But that was okay, she was going to just take it from the winner after the show, and she was waiting in the back for after he or she went backstage, but after she saw the power the boy used in reigning the djinn, with a fake wand and silly hand movements, she was thrown off. It wasn't a simple spell to be preformed! And for one so young to possess that much power, and not even realize it...

"Hunt's girl, he goes to your school, correct?" At Rose's nod, the Hunt's master continued, "I want you to get close to him, become his friend, and see what he knows, what he knows he can do. Understand?"

"Yes, Hunt's master," His pupil said, bringing his thoughts to clarity. If he could get the boy from the Hunt's girl's school to cast a few restraining or possibly deadly spells on...accident, the boy could be of much use. The Hunt's master needed that power.

"Go, and make friends with this...Spud."

And she was gone.

!o!O!o!O!o!O!o!

"Oh, Gramps! You should'a seen it! I was flyin' around and fightin' the big bag djinn, right? Well, then Spud just starts talking, and saying this spell and then the djinn disappeared! It was tottally awesome!" Jake was raving to his grandfather, after having decided that they were to search for the chalice later that day, which Jake had lost on the subway. Jake liked the part where he was "About to beat it, Gramps, really!" and then got to the part about Spud's spell.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Jake, you say **Spud **cast the spell?" This was new, after having heard the story many times before this, this news made a difference, "Did I mention how only great wizards or other magical creatures could cast such a spell? The fact that he knew it at all was a wonder, but he said it and it worked?" Grandpa was amazed. Spud, Jake's...less than bright friend from school could actually be a magical being?

Jake stopped his re-telling of the showdown in the gym. Great wizard? Magical creatures? Only? "Gramps, you can't be serious, I mean, right? Spud's normal! I mean, not **normal**, normal. But he's not magical."

"There is no other way he could have trapped the djinn, Jake, I believe Spud may have been misleading you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, time-out, Gramps!" Fu-dog, the ancient, talking furry bag of wrinkles, and the 'family pet' cut in, "The kid looked at surprised and amazed as everyone else! Couldn't it have been a fluke?"

Grandpa digested this bit of information, "Even if he does not know the power he possesses, we must tread carefully, if he gets too caught up in the spotlight, he may start using magic as a way to impress others, we must find someone to teach him...guide him." At this, the older dragon looked meaningfully in his grandson's direction.

"Who are you thinking of, Gramps?" Jake asked, but after his grandfather's long stare, a look registerred in his eyes, "Wait! What? I don't know anything about spells or wizards or...shouldn't we be looking for someone more, I dunno, qualified?"

"You're the American Dragon, kid! You can do it!" Fu-dog said, he needed to make a bet on the younger dragon later.

"It also means you must tell him what you really are, Jake." Grandpa said.

"Wait, I get to tell him? Can I tell Trixie too?" Jake asked his mentor.

"I would prefer you not, this is a matter between you and Spud, Jake."

"Aw, maaaan..."

!o!O!o!O!o!O!o!

Author's note: Whoa! This is my first fanfic, and will probably be my only one for a long, long time. Does anyone remember the name of the chalice? Would anyone be interested in beta'ing for me? I don't know when my next opportunity will be to write another chapter, but I'll write it as soon as I think it. Once I'm more accomplished, I'll write on a better schedule.


	2. By the way? I'm a dragon

Authors note: Let me just say, I'm sorry if I can't come up with any weird uphamisims for Spud, but I'll try and make him as...Spudnificent as I can, ok?

!Chapter 2!

It wasn't until the next day, Saturday, that Jake saw Spud or Trixie, they had gone to the skate park. And after searching for the chalice everywhich-where on the subway and out of it, his Gramps let him take the day off of the investigation, saying, "It would do you no good to collapse from exaughstion, that and you also need to speak with Spud." Jake wasn't sure he could do that, so the night before he had asked Fu-dog for a favor, which he hoped would help with breaking Spud in slowly. With him you never knew how he was going to take things.

"You just found it in your backpack?" He heard the incredulous voice of Trixie, as he approached on his 'board.

"Yeah, man, it was just...there! Think Jake might've just dropped it in there on accident or something?" Spud said, his voice in that laid-back tone used often with him.

"No, no, no. I mean, **I **saw him leave with the trophy, right? And you let him keep it, so he must've left with it, right?"

"That's possible, I guess." Spud conceded, "But how did it end up in **my **backpack?"

"Hey, guys." Jake said, making his presence known, "What'cha talkin' about?"

"Oh, just how the talent show trophy just somehow appeared in my backpack last night, almost like magic." Spud said, while he was sitting on a bench, he had his skateboard under his feet, swinging it side to side, Trixie was standing behind him and off to the side, rummaging through one of the two 'packs on the ground.

"Like magic, you say?" Jake asked, trying to sound non-chalant.

"Here it is!" Trixie said, standing, and holding out the trophy, "See? I thought for sure that you took it with you, Jakie!" She said, handing it to him as he reached out a hand, intending to take it, and shifting the one arm that held the semi-large tome that he held, wrapped in gift-wrapper, to take the chalice, and study it all around.

"Wow, I thought I had this with me when I left, thanks man! Wait until Gramps sees this..." When he saw the look that Spud was about to ask something, "Well, uh, Gramps and the rest of my family, too, y'know."

Spud nodded, then pointed to the medium sized rectangle in Jake's arms, "What's the package for?"

"Well, actually, it's for you. You see, I, uh, well, I felt bad that you wouldn't take the trophy so I decided to get you something, y'know, so we're even." He said, handing it over to Spud, who took it and moved to start ripping the paper off, "No, wait!" He said, a little panicky, Spud wasn't supposed to open it until he was alone, or atleast, until Trixie left.

Spud stopped, then shrugged, "Ok, I just thought you'd like to see my face when I opened it, guess not, right?" After the shallow nod from Jake, he handed it to Trixie, who had been fixing her skate-gear on, and was now almost done, "Would you put it in my 'pack?" After Trixie did so, he got up, but, forgetting his feet were on the skateboard, fell off at the sudden weight switch, his board lurching forward, and tossing Spud onto his back, "I'm OK!" He said, raising an arm and then getting up a little slowly, "I'm OK."

Trixie thumped Spud's helmet a couple times, "Even without this, you'd be perfectly fine, what, with your head so thick and everything," She half-joked.

"Yeah, really, really, hard head." Spud agreed, getting up and chasing his skateboard around, Jake having put the chalice away, deciding he would take it to Grandpa later, and see Spud's reaction to the magic book later, as well. But for now? He'd just have fun with his friends.

None of them were aware of the two, piercing blue eyes, watching them from the shadows.

!o!O!o!O!o!O!o!

It was night time by now, and Spud just had a really good day, his friends were there, he'd spent the whole day skate-boarding and talking with Jake and Trix, and he still had a present to open.

Spud went to his room, noticing that his parents weren't back from the romantic evening they had made plans for, for like, months in advance. So he had the house to himself. He went to his bed and sat down on it, he noticed a tiny white letter on his pillows, he picked it up and tried to decide the best method for opening it, _'Should I just rip it open? Find the letter opener? And what could fit on paper this small, anyway?' _He decided to rip off the top of it, which he did, and what happened next surprised him.

A floating image of Jake's head appeared, looking clouded, and then, it started talking, _"Spud, by now you've probably figured something weird is going on, right? Well, let me be the first to say, this is just the begining." _Floating-head-Jake paused, glancing behind him and nodding before turning back to face Spud, _"This is a recording, ok? So don't try talking back to it...Yeah, anyway, what needs to be said is, I'm a dragon." _He paused again, _"No, really, I am, I'm a dragon, assigned to protect america! But right now, it's just starting out with the NYC. The next point I need to make is, I'm not allowed to tell mortals this kind of stuff, so guess what that means...Got it yet? Right, you're not mortal! I know, creepy and a shock, right? Well, apparently you're some great wizard with great powers and stuff, you've just been saying all the wrong words and you couldn't activate it. That's what the Magic for Dummies book is for. It's got beginner spells and basic information about magical creatures, so, on Sunday, tomorrow, meet me at Grandpa's shop, please? If you don't want to, or don't like it, I guess we just pretend this never happened, right? Ok, well, I'll let you get reading and the sooner you read, the sooner you can make a decision." _The floating-head-Jake disappeared, and Spud was left to just stare.

Wizard? Powers? As in, Magical? He was a magical creature? Jake was too? "Ok, getting weird." Spud decided, but he took off his shoes and set them at the end of the bed, sitting down and unwrapping the present Jake had given him earlier. Underneath the wrapping paper of chinese dragons and symbols, there was a plain, black book, nothing on it. Spud just stared, and then moved his hand over the cover, intending to take a look inside, but as his hand over it, words glowed a soft yellow on the front, reading, plain and simple _"Magic" _on it. He turned the page and started to read.

!o!O!o!O!o!O!o!

Here he was, standing outside Jake's grandfather, Lao Shi's, ancient antique shop. Spud had finished about a quarter of the book the previous night, learning the basic rules of magic, about how no mortal should be told of magical creatures and would have to learn to be descreet, the introduction to many mythical creatures also helped him learn the nature of unicorns, imps, trolls, goblins, gargoyles, dragons and many more. He even learned a spell. It didn't do much, just some basic wind tossing, and all he had to do was say "Gustoi," move his hand in the direction he wanted the wind to follow, and at what velocity. He also had the hunch he could move things with his mind as well, but that was just a theory.

Now Spud took a deep breath and entered the shop, _"Magic" _tucked under his right arm, he saw Jake at the counter, "Hey, Jake!" He said, and muttered, "Gustoi," and waved, the pages of the books infront of Jake started to move lightly, then flip over entirely new pages, the wind becoming a bit stronger, then stopping. He walked over and set the black book infront of him, inbetween himself and Jake, "You know, this is all to crazy **not **to be true, y'know?" Spud asked rhetorictly.

"Spud!" Jake greeted, then his chair scooted back once all the pages of his books were lost. He listened to Spud's comment and nodded, "You seem to be taking this well. And you've already mastered a spell! I heard it ussually takes a few weeks atleast...are you sure you're not just pulling my leg, man?"

"No, really, Jake, the first time I tried it last night, I didn't get much of a response, but I can do it now!" Spud said, obviously excited, well, as excited as Spud would get, "Hey, can I see you turn into a dragon?" He asked, hopping up to sit on the counter, and putting the tome in his lap, watching Jake.

"Well, I dunno, I guess I could." Jake shrugged and went over to the door, flipping the "Open" sign to "Closed" and turning around, walking to the center of the room, "I haven't quite gotten the hang of it, just to let you know."

Spud waited, watching Jake walked to the center of the room, raising an arm and say, "Dragon up, yo!" And then flames started to lick his body, climbing from his center and stretching outward, until, in Jake's place, was a large, red dragon with a tan underbelly, black hair and green tips.

"Wow. That's just completely awesome!" Spud jumped off, making sure not to drop his book, and walked over to Jake, feeling over his scales and taking in the sight, "That is just so totally **_awesome!_**" He said, going around Jake, and tugging on his wings slightly, "Can you fly? Can you breath fire? Do you speak like, your own special dragon-y language? That's like, roars and growls or something?"

"Spud, Spud!" Jake said, laughing a bit and turning around, "Let's see...Yes, yes, and no." He said, Spud was taking this better than he thought.

"Well, Spud, I'm glad you find this all so interesting, but we must start lessons, mustn't we?"

"Gramps!" Jake said, turning to the newly entered Lao Shi, "I uh, was just showing Spud what dragons look like."

"Totally awesome!" Spud interjected.

"Yes, I suppose so," Grandpa conceeded, nodding slightly, "But now, Spud, it's time for lessons to begin."

"Lessons?"

"Yeah, Gramps and I are gonna teach you the basics of magic and how to do some spells and potions and junk. Hey! Maybe you can be like, my side-kick or something! I can see it now," He said, putting his two claws infront of him, making a sort of frame, "The American Dragon and Spud the Spudnificent!"

"Yeah, I like the sound of that." Spud agreed.

His life just got a whole lot crazier in the span of about twelve hours, but Spud didn't have a problem with it, this was going to be fun, and exciting. What more could he ask for?

!o!O!o!O!o!O!o!

Author's note: Here you go! It's longer! Although it's not exactly how I planned it to be, I like this version better than the other Chapter 2. I'm sorry if Spud seem's out of character, but I was half-asleep when I wrote this, and I was trying to keep everyone as in-character as I could. Hope you guys like it, and don't forget to review! (Please.) And don't worry, they're'll be more Rose in the next chapter(I hope). Who wants me to continue from where I left off, or start the next chapter the next day at school? Please tell me in your reviews.


	3. I broke my yoyo!

!Chapter 3!

Spud had a good day, and a bad day, all in one day, but that day was yesterday. Fu-dog had taught him how to make basic self-defense potions incase something went wrong until he could defend himself better from magical entities, which was ok. All he had managed to learn that day in the way of spells was to order the water to take simple shapes, like a heart, a simple flower, and so on. But he did have a good time, trading jokes with Jake, and learning about the Magical World from Lao Shi, those were the good parts.

The bad parts were that Lao Shi had explained that sometimes, becoming a wizard wasn't heireditary, so he wasn't even sure he could tell his parents, which stunk on it's own level. Jake had told him in part about the Hunt's Clan, just something about a couple of humans who try to hunt magical creatures, or something like that, saying that he should just avoid them for now. He'd also broken his yo-yo.

But now he was on his way to school, holding the book, _'Magic' _while skateboarding, waiting until he passed Trixie's house to put it away. He was in the middle of a section about demons, evil human-like(and some, very UN-human-like) creatures that mainly seemed to target humans that were TOO good, breaking up a group and going after them individually. One Spud would definitely have to look out for.

Once he was getting close to Trixie's house, he stopped, put the book away and then continued on.

"Hey, Trix." He greeted, casually.

"Hey Spud," Said Trixie, starting up her ride, and catching up to glide next to Spud, "What was that book you were readin'?"

"What book?" Asked Spud, hoping to play the 'innocent idiot' card.

After a long stare, "Nevermind," And it usually worked.

!o!O!o!O!o!O!o!

Spud and his friends had just entered her sight, this should make it easy enough for herself. She initiated the start of her plan.

She went forward and intended to bump into the cap-wearing wizard, but he suddenly stopped, showing Trixie his broken yo-yo and commenting on how he was going to have to get a new one now.

Which meant she bumped into Jake instead.

"Oomph!" accompanied by "mmph!" escaped their lips as they fell to the floor, dropping her books, Rose hurried to pick them up, as did Jake.

"I'm soooo sorry, Rose!" Jake apologized profusely, "That was all my fault, really!" He said, quickly gathering the books and handing them to Rose, and then put out his hand, to help her up, which she took, and they were both up, Spud and Trixie watching from a safe distance.

"Oh, it's alright," She asked, although internally she was sort of frustrated her first attempt to get to Spud didn't work, "We were both kind of not looking where we were going. Look, I gotta go, I'll see you around, kay? Bye." And she left.

Trixie walked up to one side of Jake, Spud on the other, "I think she likes you, Jakie!" Said Trixie, draping an arm over his shoulder, Spud seemed oddly quiet, watching Rose leave.

"You think?" Asked Jake.

"Oh yeah, definitely, if you noticed, she was going the _other _way when we came in, but then she just turned around just to bump into you!" Trixie said.

Spud snapped out of whatever bad feeling he was having and turned to the other two, "Well, maybe she just forgot something this way and it was an accident?" He asked, having a smile on his face, "Either way, I'm not sure she's the right girl to get involved with."

Jake frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, I just get a weird feeling around her, that's all."

"Hmmph," Jake grunted, continuing onto class, obviously not trusting Spud's jugdement completely, "Well, we gotta get to class anyway, c'mon guys."

!o!O!o!O!o!O!o!

Author's note: Sorry, it's short, I mean, really sorry, but I've got writer's block. I intended to have the fight with the Hunt's Girl versus Jake and Spud, but I'm still working on that, so I can't exactly do it yet. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!


	4. Fire

Disclaimer: I do not own American Dragon: Jake Long, or Tales of Symphonia.

Note: The disscussion about ToS, and Zelos, is based on spoilers and character actions in the game. For those of you who actually have the game and haven't even gotten to the Tower of Salvation yet, please be warned.

!Chapter 4!

After school was over, the trio of Jake, Spud and Trixie decided to go over to Trixie's house to play some video-games.

They decided on Tales of Symphonia(A/N: I know they like to play sports games, but just this once...), in which Jake chose Lloyd, Trix was Sheena and Spud was Zelos. "Has anyone noticed how weird Zelos is?" Spud asked, while in the middle of a battle.

"Not really, I mean, he's the replacement for the traitor!" Jake playfully growled out, much in the character of pretending to be Lloyd.

"No, no, I see what Spud means, Jake," Trixie said, "He's been acting all weird, that and the fact that he's a _magic swordsman, _I mean, he's the only one, probably, besides Kratos, right? So then--No no!" Trixie cried, Sheena was down in the game and she waited for someone to come around to heal her, so she continued her speech, "Something's gotta be up with him. It's just not right to be so powerful, and handsome, and he's just a goofball. I mean, they never makes characters like that in other games, right?" She started to play again, as her character had been healed and she almost didn't notice.

Spud took a second to glance back at Jake and grin a little, which prompted Jake to answer, "Why not? Sometimes characters are just as they are, no back story or anything, he might just be comic relief."

"Or Trix might be right and we've been reading him wrong." Spud interjected, dang, this monster was getting on his nerves!

Just then, Spud's controlled sparkled, but he was lucky Trixie wasn't looking in his direction, although he did catch Jake's attention with that. The game stopped, and the monster disappeared, changing to the reward screen, leaving the others to stop and pause, "I didn't hit it, did you?" Trixie asked no one in particular.

"Uhm, I think I did?" Said Spud, but more like asked. "That was weird."

"Maybe it was a glitch?" Jake said, quick to cover up the use of Spud's apparent magic.

"Maybe...Hey, look, I gotta jet, see ya' later?" The wizard asked, standing up and putting his controller down.

He got two distracted 'See you's' and he was gone, but just before he left, he heard Trixie's grandmother call down from upstairs and ask if Trixie or her friends wanted anything to eat, the answer was a distracted no. Spud smiled, grabbing his skateboard and gear at the door, and left.

!o!O!o!O!o!O!o!

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...thump, thump, thump, THUMP!

The constant sound went slowly through Jake's room, he woke up, feeling a bit disoriented, just in time to hear the last loud thump of the side of someone's closed fist hit his window, loudly. Jake was afraid the glass would break.

"I'm coming, I'm coming..." Jake mumbled, rubbing his eyes, trying to wake up a little, wondering what sort of magical creature could need his help in the middle of the night, and in the pouring rain, no less!

Jake slid open his window, just as thunder rocked the house and lightening followed shortly after, illuminating Spud's wet face and teary eyes. "Spud?" Jake asked cautiously.

"Can I come in?" Spud asked, eerily calm.

"Uhm, sure." Jake said, stepping out of the way, as Spud climbed in all the way and that's when Jake got a good look at him. His clothes were soaked but obviously there were burn marks here and there, and parts of his clothes were ripped, he was missing his cap, too. And those were definitely tears mixed in with the rain covering his body. "What happened, Spud?" He asked, softly.

Spud closed his eyes, as if pained, but continued in his calm voice, "My family is dead."

Jake stopped whatever movements he had going, but after a minute his burning lungs reminded him to breath, "Dead? B-but...a-a-are you sure? They can't be dead, Spud!" Jake argued, not wanting to believe it, and he'd never even met any them before.

"They're dead, Jake. They were all over at my house and then...something happened and a fire exploded out of nowhere, and the house caught the flames. It happened too quick for anyone to do anything." The wizard said, walking over to Jake's bed and sitting down on it, making that spot very wet in the process, and put his head in his hands, a muffled sob escaping, "What'm I gonna do?" He asked, weakly and muffled.

Jake was wide-eyed, all of Spud's family, gone just like that? Jake mutely made his way to Spud's side and put an arm around his shoulders, not knowing what else to do. "Spud...You...don't have any family anymore..." Jake started, realizing something, "We need to talk to Gramps..." But seeing Spud turn into the small hold Jake had on him, he just gripped a little tighter, "Tomorrow."

!o!O!o!O!o!O!o!

Author's note: I'm evil, aren't I? Well, anyway, sorry if this was completely off track from what you guys thought was gonna happen, but I think I have an idea for the next chapter and it should come together soon. Don't kill me, please?


	5. Back to school

!Chapter 5!

It had been a week and a half since anyone had seen Spud, and Rose was wondering what had happened to him. But her first job was done, now she just needed the boy to show up, although she supposed it would take a while for Spud to come to school. Where had he been staying? Had he moved away? No, no, that couldn't be, right?

Ah, there he was, backpack slung over a shoulder and talking quietly with Jake who was walking with him, a small smile on his face. She went to make her move.

"Uh, hi, Spud." Said Rose, shifting her feet a little, "I heard about what happened, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry for your loss."

Spud stopped and looked down, letting out a long breath, "Yeah, uhm, thanks, Rose." He said.

"So how've you been doing?" Asked Rose, "No one's heard from you for a while."

"I'm uh, I'm doing alright. I've been staying at the Long's, while the state tries to figure out what to do with me."

"I think my parents are trying to adopt him," Jake said, wrapping an arm around Spud's shoulders, who smiled.

"Yeah, atleast I won't be sent to live with some strangers, right?" The wizard asked, then smiled, "Hey, uh, look, we gotta get going,"

"We do?" Asked Jake, a little surpised.

"Yes, Jake, we do, remember?"

"Oh! Oh, yeah, right, well, see you later, Rose!" Jake said, happily, walking around her and down into the halls.

"Bye." She said, shortly, watching them go.

!o!O!o!O!o!O!o!

"Spud, what's wrong?" Jake asked, once they in the halls, kids flanking them on all sides.

Spud sighed, "I don't know, Rose just gives me the creeps, ya' know?"

"No, not really, I mean, Rose is Rose! Just look at her, right?"

"Maybe." Spud said, resignedly, shaking his head a little.

Spud had been getting weird feelings all the night before, when at Lao Shi's shop, working with Fu-Dog in his potion ingrediant lesson, Jake had been out, doing Dragon stuff while Spud had been learning spells and magic and all things encompasing it, and after having an impromptu lesson on the tooth fairy and about dragon teeth, was learning quickly. When Jake had gotten back later that evening, he had told Spud that he had fought with the Hunt's Girl, and it had ended in a stalemate, and now he was paranoid of seeing a flash or two while he was fighting that was definitely not lightening. Which had brought to mind for Spud to show the younger Dragon his new spell, 'Thundaros', which he used to make lighting crawl up and down his arm, Jake thought it was awesome.

"Woooo...!" Jake had been trying to get Spud's attention for the last few minutes but he seemed to have spaced out, Spud suddenly blinked and turned to Jake.

"Uh, sorry, what?"

"I said, 'Are we gonna get to Rotwood's class now, or what?' and then you spaced out."

"Oh, yeah, uh, let's go." Spud said, following his friend to Professor Rotwood's mythology class.

!o!O!o!O!o!O!o!

Author's note: Sorry it took so long! I mean, really, really sorry. I'm also sorry it's so short, but my house is in chaos because I'm going on vaction for two weeks in about a week, and I'm trying to get everything together, so...sorry! Oh, and to answer DanMat6288, it's because mortal's aren't supposed to know about magical stuff and the like, and since Spud is now classified at magical, he is allowed to know, Trixie isn't. And I'd like to apologize in advance if I mess up this altered episode in any way when redo-ing the episode 'Professor Rotwood's Thesis', in which is the episode that Trixie and Spud learn Jake is a dragon, so I'm revamping it and such, and it'll probably be inacurate alot, ok, anyway...Ciao!


End file.
